Attorney
General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today the conviction of
Darryl Shelton, 44, of 7874 Cornerstone Way, in the Gwynn Oak section
of Baltimore, in connection with the theft of clothing and accessories
from various men's clothiers by posing as the assistant or husband
of a Maryland Environmental Service employee, who was the authorized
account holder of the agency's purchasing credit card that he used
to steal the items.

In
October 2000, Shelton was employed by a local Baltimore temporary
employment agency when he was assigned to work in the accounts payable
department of the Maryland Environmental Service agency, located
in Annapolis. He worked there for only three-and-a-half days, during
which time he had access to the credit card account information
issued to authorized employees. He used the account information
to order merchandise by phone and mail-in catalog from various vendors
totaling approximately $2,400 and had the items delivered to his
home address. The scheme was discovered when a pair of designer
men's shoes were delivered to the employee who was the authorized
account holder. The agency immediately cancelled the credit cards
and other orders that Shelton had placed were intercepted.

In
today's case, Shelton was found guilty of felony credit card fraud
and identity theft. The Honorable Marcella A. Holland, Circuit Court
for Baltimore City, sentenced Shelton to three years with all but
six months suspended and two years supervised probation upon his
release. He was given a delayed turn-in date of September 23, 2002,
as he is a witness in an unrelated criminal case. If he fails to
turn himself in, the judge may increase his sentence.

"Everyone
needs to be vigilant in protecting themselves against identity theft,"
Attorney General Curran said. "The wrong person in possession
of a credit card number or other sensitive information can lead
to detrimental financial consequences for the victim and serious
legal consequences for the criminal."

The case was investigated by the Maryland Environmental Service,
the Maryland State Police and the Attorney General's Criminal Investigations
Division.